The Haunted Mansion (Disneyland)
Welcome, foolish mortals to the Haunted Mansion, the home of 999 haunting ghosts!!! This ride is featured at both Disneyland Park at Disneyland Resort in California and the Magic Kingdom at Walt Disney World Resort in Florida. The Mansion (including the ones at the international Disney Parks: Tokyo and Paris) is the only attraction at a Magic-Kingdom style park to appear in different "lands" at the park. In California, it appears in the park's New Orleans Square on the banks of the Rivers of America next door to Splash Mountain, and opened on August 8, 1969. In Florida, it appears in the park's Liberty Square, at the end of the Rivers of America, next door to Fantasyland, and opened with the Magic Kingdom on October 1, 1971. The Ride- Disneyland Park At Disneyland, from February to August, it remains normal. From September to January, the Haunted Mansion Holiday overlay (featuring the characters from the Nightmare Before Christmas) occurs. Queue In the queue, you see a pet cemetery that is the front yard of the mansion. It features gravestones and a wagon. Stretching Gallery The first room you arrive at in the mansion is the stretching gallery, where you first hear your tour guide, the "ghost host", voiced by Paul Frees. You are inside a weird room that consists of stretching portraits of some of the ghosts in their "corruptive mortal state". And no, you do not get on your "doombuggy" vehicles yet. Beware! This room has no doors and no windows (just kidding)!!!! As the portraits are stretching, the ghost host interrupts you with a "scary" moment (a ghost hangs from the ceiling in eerie darkness). Then, you disembark the room and enter the hall of changing portraits. Hall of Changing Portraits You are in the room of changing portraits when getting on your doombuggy. To your left, you see a fake window with thunder outside. To your right, you see about eight portraits that change to "scary pictures" and back to normal once the thunder roars. One of them is a woman who turns into Medusa. Another is a horseman on his horse turning into a skeleton man on his skeleton horse. Another is a sailboat turning into a horror-themed sailboat on dark waters. Then, you walk straight ahead to where busts staring at you. Then, you turn right once you see them, and their eyes are still following you wherever you go. Then, after you turn right, you get on your doombuggies, small, black, comfortable private vehicles that you tour the mansion on. Endless Hallway and Conservatory The first room you enter on the actual ride is the endless hallway. You are greeted by a knight that slightly moves. You also see a large hallway that appears to be endless (there is actually a mirror at the end of the hallway, creating that illusion) and also floating candlebras inside of the hallway (which are actually attached to strings holding them). Then, you go forward a bit, then turn 180 degrees to your left. Then, you will see a coffin with crow on top of it, and a ghost inside it trying to push the top up saying, "let me out of here...l-l-let me outa' here!" Corridor of Haunting Doors Right after the conservatory, you will enter a narrow hallway which features old wooden doors with knocks on them that knock the door itself on your left and pictures of a ghostly family to your right. On your right, there is also a famous sign saying "Tomb Sweet Tomb". At the very end of the hallway, there is a 13-hour grandfather clock with a shadow of a monsters hand over it, hearing it roar. Next to the clock is a door to a famous dark room on the ride which you proceed into. Seance Circle Once you exit the hall of haunting doors, you enter a big room with black walls that appears to go around in a circle. On these walls, you see a trumpet, violin, drums, and a clarinet playing the Haunted Mansion's theme song, "Grin, Grinning Ghosts" alone. Then, on your right, the centerpiece of the whole room, the fortune teller, Madame Leota (a woman's head inside of a crystal ball, voiced by Eleanor Audley) does her famous chant to materialize spirits, floating gracefully around the room off a wooden table with a chair next to it (that a crow is also perching on). After you revolve in a full circle, you enter a small part of darkness and enter a huge ballroom. Ghostly Grand Ballroom Now, you are looking down on a big, magnificent ballroom filled with ghosts. The ghost host now has to leave because he is invited to the ballroom party going on downstairs. At the right of the ballroom, there is a table with ghosts sitting down and dining. Then, on the walls, there are picture frames that ghosts appear out of and then disappear. Then, to the left, there is a dance floor with ghostly couples dancing to the waltz music playing from the organ next to it. A ghostly ballroom organist is playing this organ to the tune of a familiar song. These ghosts were all made using the "Pepper's Ghost Illusion" using brightly colored animatronics and a big, bright beam of light reflecting through glass. Attic Right after the ballroom, you enter the mansion's attic. First, you see paintings of the same bride with about six of her grooms she had just married. Then, you hear the voice of the bride and you see her as you are exiting the attic to your left. She is Constance, the "black widow bride" voiced by Kat Cresida a blue ghostly bride telling the sad stories of her grooms, which was a recent 2006 addition. Graveyard Right after the attic, you enter a dark, black-grassed graveyard where you hear a whole musical sequence going on. You go downhill a little bit and then see the scared caretaker with his whimpering dog. The caretaker and his dog, besides the crows, appear to be the only living creatures on the ride. Then, you proceed a little bit and then you see a ghostly band to your right, playing the tune to "Grin, Grinning Ghosts". They each play the violin, accordion, trumpet, and flute. Then, you turn right over to a small, brick wall and see five singing busts singing "Grin, Grinning Ghosts". The lead singer, Uncle Theodore, voiced by Thurl Ravenscroft, has his head broken off of the bust, while the others do not. Then, you turn right and keep proceeding and see the other ghosts in the graveyard singing to the tune. Such ghosts are two ghosts at a tea party singing, one opera singer, an executioner with his victim's head, and two ghosts on a teeter totter. Occasionally, small ghosts will pop up behind their graves. Then, towards the end of the graveyard, your ghost host returns and warns you to "Beware of Hitchhiking Ghosts!" Exit Crypt As you enter the crypt, you will first see your hitchiking ghosts in front of a cave wall pointing left. Then, you turn left, turn around and encounter three mirrors. Once you look at these mirrors, you will find that once of the ghosts in the entrance to the crypt has hitched a ride with you. Soon after the mirrors, you disembark, and go up an escalator while watching the "Little Leota" (also voiced by Eleanor Audley) saying to hurry back to the Haunted Mansion and to obtain a "death certificate". The Ride- Magic Kingdom External Links Doombuggies Official Tribute to the Haunted Mansion Haunted Mansion Wikipedia Article Disneyland Haunted Mansion Official Page [http://disneyworld.disney.go.com/wdw/parks/attractionDetail?id=TheHauntedMansionAttractionPage Walt Disney World Haunted Mansion